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About the course

You will learn all of the practical skills and theory needed to teach Biology in an expert and assured manner. We will ensure that you have the subject knowledge and the means of structuring and planning lessons so that you are skilled and confident in the delivery of creative and stimulating lessons. You will learn from working alongside experienced school colleagues proficient in a range of scientific disciplines, whilst focusing, obviously, on Biology. We will promote a reflective and analytical view of your work in the classroom and in the laboratory, which sustains the high levels of progress we expect. From practising and expert teachers, you will learn about the science curriculum, from the framework provided by the National Curriculum through to the individual lesson plans that teachers use to support learning in their classrooms. We will support you in finding out how to use ICT effectively in your lessons, how to mark books and assess work, and how the new Key Stage 4 curriculum is structured. You will work closely with Subject Mentors and host teachers to ensure that you get all of the support you need to become an excellent Biology and science teacher.

You will usually be in school three full days and two mornings every week. One afternoon a week you will receive general training and one afternoon a week subject specific training.

Assessment will be against the teacher standards via continuous monitoring of your day to day engagement with teaching, including regular feedback from lesson observations. This will involve uploading evidence of your actual work to our assessment portal on a half termly basis, that will be five times a year. For the PGCE element, two university assignments will be linked to this assessment.

Your assessment will be based upon your day to day practice and so should cause little extra workload.

All training will be at your host school, a nearby partner school, or GORSE SCITT’s Centre for Teacher Training. This includes the training for the Masters (PGCE) element of the programme.

GORSE SCITT is one of a tiny number of OFSTED Outstanding providers in Yorkshire and Humberside; your training will be in very safe hands.

Interview process

You will usually be interviewed by two of: a senior tutor of the GORSE SCITT, a Subject Lead of the GORSE SCITT, a Senior Leader from a partner school

• You will make a short 3-5 minute presentation to a form group about why you want to teach and what you will bring to teaching; you should engage with the pupils and show them something really interesting. You will not be able to use a computer or IT but the imaginative use of other artefacts is left with you.

• You will participate in a lesson with a fully qualified teacher, interacting with students, helping them, answering questions and assisting the teacher with the lesson.

• You will have a formal interview which will give you the opportunity to discuss why you want to be a teacher, what you would bring to the profession, and also show us your resilience and initiative.

• You will be asked to complete 3 pieces of written work, for which you will be given 90 minutes. These will cover subjects such as current issues facing education, reasons for your subject being part of the curriculum, the importance of safeguarding, and subject knowledge questions.

• After your interview, we aim to let you know if you have been successful within 48 hours.

• If we regard you as a strong candidate who needs further development to be ready to join our programme we will facilitate this through our School Experience and Subject Knowledge Enhancement programmes.

How school placements work

We don’t work with any school that is more than 30-miles distant from the designated GORSE SCITT training centre and usually schools are easily within a 10-mile radius of this. This means travelling time is rarely more than 30 minutes for drivers and an hour for those using public transport.

All trainees will experience and teach across two key stages for Secondary that will be Key Stage Three and Key Stage Four (ages 11-16) and for Secondary/Post 16 that will be Key Stage Four and Key Stage Five (14-18)

11-16 trainees will have two placements, an Initial Development Placement from September to February and a Sustained Development Placement which runs from March to June.

14-18 trainees will spend approximately half of their time, September to June, in Post-16 provision and half of their time in a 14-16 setting.

You will usually be in school three days and two mornings every week and expected to follow the timings, practices and culture of the school.

GORSE SCITT believes that all trainees, morally, should understand where pupils have been on their educational journey so far, where your teaching will transport them to and how they will reach their ultimate destination. As such, all trainees will experience teaching from the Early Years Foundation Stage to YR13 and beyond through our Enriched Development Placements.

At GORSE SCITT, we offer all of our trainees the opportunity to experience and engage with educational practice outside, beyond and parallel to the age groups they predominantly teach.

Enhancement opportunities happen across the year; typically, they last a week.

Trainees will engage with these opportunities on a staggered basis, so as not to overwhelm the host schools.

These enhancement opportunities serve a vital purpose for trainees, as we ask the questions:

• How can you prepare YR11s if you don’t understand what happens in YR12?

• How can you support YR7s if you don’t know what happens in YR6?

Fees

The course fees for 2019/2020 are as follows:

Student type

Fees to pay

UK students

£9,250

EU students

£9,250

International students

£9,250

Applicants to the Bradford and East Coast will be subject to a £1250.00 discount on the fee.

Financial support

You’ll get a bursary of £26,000 if you have a degree of 2:2 or above in any subject.

You don’t have to apply for a bursary - you’ll automatically start receiving it once you begin your course. Find out how you’ll be paid.

Financial support from the training provider

Applicants to the Bradford and East Coast will be subject to a £1250.00 discount on the fee.

Requirements

Qualifications

GCSE Level 4/grade C or above or equivalent in English Language and Mathematics.

A degree in Biology or a related subject. A strong preference will be given to applicants with 2:2 honours degrees or above. All successful applicants must have met this requirement by 31 August. If you don’t have an undergraduate degree but do have a Masters or other higher qualification, your application will still be considered.

Having a good “A” level result in your chosen subject, whilst not a requirement of the course, will strengthen your application.

Personal qualities

Has high moral purpose in their desire to become a teacher.

Is able to respond positively to guidance towards self-improvement.

Has an intrinsic passion for learning.

Is fully prepared and demonstrates a clear understanding of teaching in a socially and culturally diverse society.

Assumes a high level of responsibility for the well-being, attainment, progress and outcomes of pupils.

Plans lessons that use appropriate, imaginative and creative strategies that match the individual learning styles and needs of pupils.

Demonstrates excellent subject knowledge and is able to apply this and the appropriate learning and teaching pedagogy to support the pupils they teach.

Other requirements

Offers will be subject to an Enhanced DBS which will be organised for you. We encourage you to enrol to the DBS update service. An overseas DBS may be required for those who have spent time outside of the UK.

Successful completion of the QTS skills test in literacy and numeracy is required. Further information regarding these tests can be found on the “Get into Teaching” website. We urge you to do these as soon as possible in the application process.

School Experience will strengthen an application. We can offer you time in school if needed.

About the training provider

In January 2018, GORSE SCITT was recognised by OFSTED as being Outstanding in all aspects of its work: a rare accolade in the Yorkshire region. Whilst we remain committed to constantly improving our programme, this designation does mean you can feel safe about getting an excellent deal from us as a provider. You can actually talk, through our School Experience Programme, to past participants in our programme now working in our partner schools to verify how good our programme is.

Over the last five years have trained over 400 trainees across all subjects. These colleagues are still known to us. The majority of these colleagues are pursuing successful careers in our Trust or Alliance schools; a number of these colleagues have made rapid progress through their careers and already hold positions of responsibility.

GORSE SCITT offers the opportunity to train to teach in excellent schools in the Leeds area which are either part of the successful GORSE Academies Trust or in close alliance with it.

In August of 2018 GORSE SCITT was directed by the Department of Education to expand its provision into the Bradford and Yorkshire East Coast areas. This increases the breadth of our offer and allows those who train with us to make a positive change in the lives of children across a great range of schools. Applicants to train in these areas will receive a range of benefits including reduced training fees and additional support in the first year of employment.

Training with disabilities and other needs

We pride ourselves on our layered levels of support; Subject Mentor, Subject Leads, Professional Mentor, SCITT Directors and Administrators are all committed to the development and welfare of our trainees.

Our programme effectively begins from the moment you engage with us. We can guide you every step of the way from application to the completion of your first year of employment and beyond.

We take trainee welfare extremely seriously and within our programme consideration is given to workload and well-being, we have days dedicated to well-being.

Our training mirrors the teaching philosophy of The GORSE Academies Trust and our partner schools; we deal with and remove barriers to learning. We have supported very, very many trainees with a range of learning and physical needs and again have examples of trainees who have chosen to discuss these with us and have barriers removed to the extent they are now employed in partner schools.